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The UK, US and the Eurozone in the week ahead

The UK, US and the Eurozone in the week ahead

It’s a big week for the FDA in the US, while the ECB and UK/EU Brexit deal negotiations are the focus in Europe.

US: Will the FDA give Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the green light?

Now that the UK has given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine emergency use authorisation – becoming the first nation in the world to do so – the pressure is on the Food and Drugs Administration in the United States to follow suit.

The FDA meets on December 10th to discuss the preparation, before getting together a week later to debate the Moderna vaccine.

The markets didn’t really move too much in the aftermath of the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approval – that could be different if/when the FDA makes their announcement, as it might be a sign that more and more countries will follow.


Once the FDA has met, attention will turn to the vaccine rollout itself, and any comment from the impending Biden administration (or, dependent how quick the turnaround is, the incumbent – and checked out – Trump administration) on both the timeline, and who will get the jab first.

If that meeting is the centrepiece of the second half of the week, then there isn’t much to grapple with in the run up. The monthly consumer credit number is on Monday, followed by revised nonfarm productivity on Tuesday, the JOLTS job opening reading on Wednesday, inflation and jobless claims on Thursday, and PPI and consumer sentiment on Friday.

Of course, in the absence of other news, there is always covid-19 to fill the void. The States opened December with its highest daily death totals since April, and could begin to feel the effects of Thanksgiving on daily case numbers in the coming week.

UK: How close is a Brexit deal?

With not much time on the clock, every day that passes without a Brexit deal between the UK and EU increases the pressure on sterling. News reports make it hard to gauge how close an agreement is, if close at all, with presumably a healthy dose of brinkmanship being played by both sides.

The progress of negotiations, its impact on the pound, and the related effect that will have on the FTSE, looks set to remain one of, if not the, dominant trading conversation in the UK.

Elsewhere, there’s the Halifax HPI on Monday, and the monthly GDP, industrial production and manufacturing production readings on Thursday.

Eurozone

The ECB are expected to pull the trigger on further stimulus this Thursday, which according to some reports could run as high as half a trillion euros via the pandemic emergency purchase programme.

Before Christine Lagarde and co. reveal the deals of this latest package, the Eurozone faces German industrial production on Monday, revised region-wide HDP data and the ZEW economic sentiment figures on Tuesday, German trade balance on Wednesday, and Italian industrial production on Friday.

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This article is brought to you in association with Spreadex. All opinions expressed in this article are from the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Armchair Trader. You can find out more about Spreadex products and services here, or find more articles from Connor Campbell here.

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